


Love at First Sight

by CuriosityRedux



Series: Dragon Drabbles Berk [49]
Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Daddy Hiccup, F/M, Hiccstrid - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-27
Updated: 2018-11-27
Packaged: 2019-08-30 03:51:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16757137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CuriosityRedux/pseuds/CuriosityRedux
Summary: Hiccup holds his son for the first time.





	Love at First Sight

**Love at First Sight**

**-**

Astrid’s exhausted laugh was breathy and tired, but it floated over his shoulder like a cool breeze. He wanted to spin around, but he was terrified to drop the warm little bundle in his arms. “You’re not going to break him, you know,” she murmured, pushing sweaty tendrils of blonde away from her temples. Her eyes were only half open, watching him with affection.

“No, that’s— that’s where you’re wrong,” he swallowed with a shake of his head. “I— I break things, and drop things, and I mess everything up.” His eyes were afraid to move from the tiny face he hadn’t stopped staring at since they’d pulled the babe from Astrid’s side. His shoulders were cramping from trying to maintain the hold that his own mother had bent his arms into. How was it possible that the ocean of crashing emotions could be all because of such a little thing?

“I want to see him,” she whispered. She moved as if to sit up, but then winced and gasped in pain. 

“No, no, no.” Hiccup crossed the room, lowering himself into the seat he’d been occupying since she fell asleep. “All the ladies were very adamant about not letting you try and be a hero.” Scooting forward, he held out the little bundle for her to see.

The smile that ghosted across her pale features was almost as hard to watch as it had been to listen to her screams. When had happiness become such a painful emotion? He didn’t remember joy feeling like his heart was trying to rip from his chest.

“He’s so perfect.” Astrid’s trembling hand moved to their newborn’s head, smoothing over the baby’s soft downy hair. “Red,” she laughed, sounding a little teary. “He looks just like—”

“I know.” Hiccup’s throat felt rough. In his arms, his son shifted and squirmed at his mother’s touch. The little noises he made reminded Hiccup of the dragon hatchlings, and he could only shake his head and chuckle with amazement. Above them, he could hear Toothless’ claws on the ceiling, but he wasn’t ready to break the warm bubble of their bedroom for anybody else just yet.

“Is your mom still here?” she asked, blinking up at her husband. “Did she get to see?” It struck him how she’d never looked sicker— or more beautiful. Not even on the day he married her.

“For a minute. She’s downstairs.” In his arms the newborn settled back to sleep with a yawn. “Last I heard, she was trying to convince the women not to skin me alive.”

Astrid’s pressed the back of her fingers against her lips to stifle a giggle. “The birthing room isn’t for men,” she scolded with a little smile. “I can’t believe they didn’t drag you out by your ears.”

Hiccup felt a little heat rise to his cheeks, along with a little bit of the ire that had bubbled over when his wife had cried his name during labor. He’d all but taken the door off of its hinges forcing himself inside, and Astrid’s mother had looked at him like he’d walked in with three heads. “What’s the point of being chief of this pile of rocks if I can’t be with my wife when she needs me?”

Rolling her eyes, she sighed and brushed her thumb against her son’s soft cheek. “If something had gone wrong, you would have blamed yourself for the rest of your life.”

“Don’t even say that,” he hissed, his eyes wide and terrified. As if just saying the words could make them true. 

The blonde slid her tired gaze to her husband’s face. She raised her hand to cup his scruffy cheek against her palm, and despite himself, he leaned into the touch. “We’re fine. I’m fine. The baby is fine.” Her expression melted. “The baby is perfect.”

He wanted to touch her so badly, but he was afraid to move his hands even an inch. The bundle in his arms hardly weighed a thing, but at the same time, it was the heaviest thing in the world. Hiccup settled for pressing a kiss against the inside of her palm. “I didn’t think I could ever love somebody more than I love you.”

The corners of her mouth pulled upwards. “I didn’t think I could either.” Her thumb brushed across his cheekbone, just as she had done for the little infant. “You break stuff, you drop stuff, and somehow disaster follows you everywhere you go, but I  _promise_  you, Hiccup.” Astrid pushed her fingers back to lace through his hair. “You won’t mess this up.”

“Don’t let me, okay?” His chest felt tight. 

His wife gave him an all-too familiar expression. That sad smile and the shake of her head that she always gave him during bouts of self consciousness. She sighed. “You won’t. I promise.”


End file.
